We were having a chat with our friends from Fibre Tiger this week about the common “myths and magic tricks” of WiFi. You may be familiar with some of them yourself.
Here are some of the myths and magic tricks behind getting better WiFi signal.
1. Plugging In and Out Again
“Have you tried plugging it out and back in again?”
There’s a very good reason why the above question is often the first thing that tech support will ask you, whether you’re calling them about your WiFi signal or a hanging computer screen. If you want to know why this works, take a look at our extensive article on the magic of forcing a power cycle.
2. Router Placement
If you’ve been having issues with poor WiFi signal, it could be that the router you’re trying to connect to is in the wrong place.
The easiest way to test whether this is the problem is to move either your router or your device closer to one another. Does this make any difference to the signal?
If yes, then all you have to do is install your router somewhere else – but a wireless range extender might also boost the signal if router placement is the problem. Want to know why placement makes a difference? take a look at our article on getting the most out of your WiFi.
3. Wireless Range Extender
A wireless range extender does just that: It extends the signal range of your WiFi router, meaning that you can get access to your best internet speeds from anywhere in your home.
Wireless range extenders are usually inexpensive to order, and all you have to do is plug it into your router for it to work.
4. Get A New Router
Still connecting to the internet with a WiFi router from the late nineties?
If you start to experience issues with poor WiFi signal out of the blue, and troubleshooting on our helpful support pages hasn’t helped, then it might be time to replace your old router with a newer one. If you’re using an old router from way-back-when, give us a call and we’ll help you find the right one for your needs.
5. Change Your Router Channel
(For Fibre customers) If you’ve tried everything else on this list and you’re still having trouble, then you can try switching between your 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz channels. Sometimes we forget that this is an option. If you are in the same room as your router the 5Ghz channel should give you the highest speed. If you are further away, you will find that the 2.4 Ghz channel gives the furthest range.
